Testing frequency converters with an embedded local oscillator (LO) present special problems when making phase and group delay measurements using a vector network analyzer (VNA) because the embedded LO frequency may not be well-known or stable.
If the frequency of the LO is unknown, it is possible to search the intermediate frequency (IF) for a peak signal and from the measured IF infer the LO frequency. Unfortunately, even phase-locked LO sources can drift in phase over time. This is because a phase/frequency detector may be used to generate an output voltage proportional to the phase difference between the internal oscillator and a reference frequency. The output voltage is integrated in a phase-lock loop to provide a constant phase offset, e.g. lock angle, and drives the internal oscillator's tune line to maintain zero deviation from the lock angle. However, the lock angle can drift due to analog circuit drift in the phase detector caused by temperature changes or spurious signals in the phase lock loop. If the lock angle drifts long enough, it can cause a phase “pop” or “slipped cycle” where the lock is momentarily lost.
When making group delay measurements on a mixer using a Vector Network Analyzer (VNA), a mixer path is added to the network analyzer reference path to provide a phase reference for the radio frequency (RF) to IF transfer function. Typically, the LO is split to drive both the device under test (b) and the reference channel mixer. For an embedded LO DUT, a reference channel LO of the same frequency as the DUT LO is used to drive the reference mixer, but any drift in either LO causes a phase variation of one IF relative to the other. For a group delay measurement, the RF is swept through a small range, which is effectively the group delay aperture and the IF phase change is measured. Previously, a calibration mixer would be used to normalize out the reference path response relative to the test path. Thus, any detected IF phase change is considered to be due to a DUT group delay (taught in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/591,441, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,690,722, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,448,786). For the calibration portion, the reference channel LO is used to drive both the reference and calibration mixer. However, when measuring the DUT, if the LO phase drifts during the measurement, the phase drift will cause IF phase changes and result in an erroneous group delay measurement.